Harris puts abortion, a weakness for Trump, at center of campaign

In contrast with President Biden, who was reluctant to say the word abortion, the vice president has campaigned aggressively on it since the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that eliminated the constitutional right to the procedure. At the White House, she has met with abortion providers and women who have had abortions. Earlier this year, Harris was believed to be the first president or vice president to visit an abortion clinic.

After locking up the support to be the Democratic nominee, Harris’s campaign launched a blitz of abortion-related campaign activities Monday, including events hosted by second gentleman Doug Emhoff and advocates. The campaign also released a video with the vice president condemning a new abortion law in Iowa, hoping to energize women and independent voters with her promise to protect abortion rights.

As the landscape of the 2024 race rapidly shifts, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump must now contend with an opponent who embraces abortion rights in a way that Biden didn’t—and who is viewed positively on the issue. A recent Wall Street Journal poll showed that 51% of voters thought Harris was best able to handle abortion, compared with 33% who preferred Trump. Harris lagged behind Trump on issues such as immigration and the economy.

Mike Bocian, a Democratic pollster who conducted the poll with Republican pollster David Lee, said: “It makes a lot of sense for her to elevate this issue. Republicans wanted to take away women’s reproductive freedom and now that they did it, they want to talk about it as little as possible."

Ahead of the Republican National Convention earlier this month, the GOP released a stripped-down party platform that only mentions the word “abortion" once. It also states that the party opposes late-term abortion, while supporting prenatal care as well as access to birth control and in vitro fertilization treatments. That language appears intended to undercut warnings from Democrats that Republican victories in November would lead to a GOP-led crackdown on contraception and fertility treatments.

Antiabortion groups, which have been frustrated with Republicans’ efforts to play down the abortion debate, argue that Harris’s efforts now make the issue impossible for Republicans to avoid.

“They’ve had this ostrich mentality," said Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life Action. “I really think Kamala Harris being at the top of the Democratic ticket is going to force the GOP to engage in this debate."

At her first official campaign rally, Harris vowed to “stop Donald Trump’s extreme abortion bans." Abortion advocacy groups have rushed to support her, with the political arm of Emily’s List announcing a $2 million advertising campaign backing Harris that focuses on abortion rights.

“This is somebody who isn’t just comfortable, she’s a fighter on this issue," said Mini Timmaraju, the president of Reproductive Freedom for All.

Abortion rights could be on the ballot in at least half-a-dozen states in November, including the battleground state of Arizona. And new state laws and legal cases have also kept abortion top of mind for many voters. The latest example is an Iowa law banning most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, which takes effect Monday.

Republican congressional candidates underperformed in the 2022 midterm elections. Polls showed that abortion was a top issue that energized Democratic voters, as well as suburban women who identify as Republicans or Independents.

Harris is looking to put Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, (R., Ohio), on defense given the fight for abortion rights has been a political loser for Republicans.

Trump appointed three of the Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and has repeatedly bragged about it. He also selected a vice president with a conservative record on the issue. But Trump also has said he wants to leave the issue to the states to decide and has said he won’t block access to the abortion pill mifepristone, used in the majority of abortions.

“President Trump has long been consistent in supporting the rights of states to make decisions on abortion," said Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign’s national press secretary.

During the Republican National Convention, Trump avoided the topic of abortion. But at his first rally since Harris became the expected Democratic nominee, he tried to paint her as extreme and out-of-step with many Americans, portraying her as supporting abortions in the eighth and ninth month of pregnancy.

Harris has said that she supports restoring the protections found in Roe v. Wade, which protected abortion access nationwide until a fetus is viable outside the womb, or about halfway through a typical pregnancy. Roe also allowed for abortions after viability to preserve the life or health of the pregnant woman. When pressed for more specifics in a CBS interview last fall, Harris declined to elaborate.

Vance’s past views on abortions have come under scrutiny. He has expressed support for banning abortion throughout pregnancy with only an exception for the life of the mother. He has also said the issue should primarily be left up to the states but has at times supported a national ban after the earliest weeks of pregnancy.

As a Senate candidate he also said that a bill setting what he called a “minimum national standard" was a good idea. More recently he has echoed Trump’s position that the issue should be left to the states.

“Senator Vance has made his position clear: he agrees with President Trump that each state should have the chance to individually set their own abortion laws," said Taylor Van Kirk, a spokeswoman for Vance. “Desperate attacks from Democrats will not distract voters from the deadly effects of Kamala’s wide open border, the untenable cost of living caused by her inflationary spending, or any other aspect of her far left, radical agenda."

As a senator, Vance also signed a letter asking the Justice Department to enforce the Comstock Act, a 151-year-old ban on mailing abortion pills that has been a central concern for abortion-rights advocates in a potential future Trump administration.

“I think his heart is 100% pro-life," said Frank Cannon, chief political strategist at Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. “When you are the vice president you have to adapt your position to that of the presidential candidate."

Liz Essley Whyte contributed to this article.

Write to Catherine Lucey at catherine.lucey@wsj.com, Laura Kusisto at Laura.Kusisto@wsj.com and Vivian Salama at vivian.salama@wsj.com